Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Originals 1.03 Review: In War You Do What's Necessary

All those that have yet to watch
last night’s episode of The Originals,
entitled ‘Tangled up in Blue’, then I suggest you exit the screen now. As
usual, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Aside from the usage of the same
jingle that plagues The Vampire Diaries,
this was a pretty good episode. The costumes, as always, were quite beautiful,
and the way open lighting is used to their advantage is breathtaking. That and
the aged sets of where they’ve surrounded themselves with, quite magnificent. It
makes me crave to see that New Orleans horizon.

Despite this series being nowhere
near the best show ever created, it is still a pleasant hour to spend. For
some, it might be called a guilty pleasure, for me it’s my love of the city
their in and the drama that can be wrought by beautiful people. Also, the
acting isn’t too shabby, despite the writing not always being there, but the
actors seem to play it to the best of their abilities. I do think that there’s
a little bit of two steps forward, one step back, kind of storytelling; it’s a
little harrowing to be honest. But I’ll continue to watch if not for my love of
psychotic characters.

While the romances with the
characters may not be working out quite well at the moment, it has been set up,
at least to my eyes, so that it could work out in the future. Although Marcel
has a thing for Cami, it’s very obvious that him and Rebecca would be better
suited for each other. And while I’m still struggling to get over the fact that
Klaus had feelings for Caroline and she seemed to be the only girl in a
thousand years and he’s moving on rather quickly, he could work with Cami. Then
there’s Hayley, whom Klaus has gotten pregnant, it’s easy to see the chemistry
she has with Elijah, so that neatly wraps all of that in a bow. Although these
pairings seem like where the writers are eventually leading to, it’s a little
too neat, and makes for little wiggle room with future endeavours. Especially being
that this is only the series first season.

Some things I liked about this
episode were how well the actress plays Davina out to be so young. I completely
believe she’s a fifteen-year-old girl, and almost stalled in her aging at that.
Reminds me a bit of Kirsten Dunst’s character in Interview With a Vampire. Also, how much I’m beginning to like the
Hayley character. Despite how cliché, unoriginal, and unbelievable it was to
make her character pregnant, she’s a lot more interesting on this show, working
with the characters she interacts with, rather than on The Vampire Diaries where she was fawning after Tyler. The third
thing I was impressed by was how bad I felt for the vampire Thierry after he’d
killed the other vampire. He did it to protect the witch he loved, but he still
knew it was a terrible act to commit. The raw emotion I felt from the man
actually made me feel bad for the guy, despite his being a villain in the
series. Although, I suppose that all the characters in this series would be
classified a villain by normal context.

However interesting this series is
progressing to be, there are still a few questions that I have, including ones
about continuity. They said in this episode that Elijah was the oldest brother,
and he certainly acted like it, but I could’ve sworn Finn was the eldest
brother. Am I miss remembering, or is this continuity issues? Also, what
happens during the full moon when Hayley changes? It’s a painful process, and
she’s not a hybrid so she can’t stop the change, so would that kill the baby?
And if not, is the baby protected by magic? Is that what the witch realized and
had spoken in the other language? And, was that other language not Latin? I
could’ve sworn it was, but I’m not very versed in old languages other than
Latin.

Anyways, I’m definitely intrigued
by the mysteries in episodes to come. This not an award worthy series, but it
is a decent show to spend a TV junkie like me’s time watching. Plus, if you
hadn’t noticed already, I just love New Orleans.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“In the front, if we’re being specific.” Klaus clarifies
where he stabbed Elijah.

“And one compelled minion does not an army make.” – Klaus tells
his minion (I love the use of that word, it needs to be used more by people).

“You two chitchat, I need booze.” – Rebecca says to her
brother and Cami.

“He was kind to me.” – Hayley tells Klaus, referring to
Elijah, saying it in such a gentle way.

All right folks, that’ll be all for tonight. Check back in
tomorrow for reviews of Nashville, Revolution, and American Horror Story: Coven. Otherwise, have a nice night.